Aldson



(No Model.)

F. H. DONALDSON.

PUZZLE.

10.602335 PatentedA'pr. 19,1898.

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UNTTED STATES PATENT lteren.

FRED HAMILTON DONALDSON, OF GARVANZA, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO NELLIE A.DONALDSON, LYDIA R. WILLIAMS, AND SYLVIA ALLOTT.

PUZZLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part f Letters 'Patent No. 602,735, dated April19, 1898.

Application led November l5, 1897. Serial No. 658,592. (No model.)

To all w/wm/ t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED HAMILTON DON- ALDSON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Garvanza, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofOalifornia,have invented new and useful Improvements in Puzzles, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relatesl to puzzles, and primarily to a puzzle whereintwo series of disks 1o or men are arranged in ways or grooves in a boardor box in certain determinate positions, the problem being to transposethe disks or men by shifting them back and forth in the grooves or ways;and the object of the'invenr 5 tion is to provide a puzzle of the typereferred to in which the difficulty of solving it is increased, thuscalling for an increased exercise of the mental faculty and ingenuity ofthe person seeking the solution.

zo To this end my invention consists in the puzzle constructed,arranged, and operated in the manner hereinafter described, andparticularly pointed out in the claims following the description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, wherein- Figure l is a plan view of the puzzle. Fig. 2 isa section on the line 2 2 of Fig. l, and Fig. 3 is a perspective View ofone of the disks 3o or men.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral lv indicates a board or base, ofwood or any other suitable material,havin g a raised circular boss 2 atits center and two concentric grooves or 3 5 ways 3 and 4, surroundingthe central boss, the numeral 3 indicating the inner groove or way, and4. the outer. The grooves or ways are preferably formed by turning in alathe in a well-known manner, leaving annular 4o raised flanges 5 and 6,which form walls or partitions bounding the sides of the ways orgrooves. The inner fiange 5 is interrupted or cut away at a suitablepoint, as at 7, forming a passage or gateway which establishescommunication between the grooves or ways 3 and 4. The passage orgateway 7 is just of a sufficient size to permit of the free passagetherethrough, one at a time, of the disks or men 8 and 9. These disksare of such diame- 5o ter that they nearly occupy the entire width ofthe grooves 3 and 4, but are capable of being freely moved therein. Thedisks or men consist of two or more series of differentlycolored orotherwise characteristically-distinguished flat circular pieces,and inthe pres- 5 5 ent Jexample said disks or men are shown as consisting oftwo series of three pieces each, the disks 8 of one series being of onecoloras blue, for example-and the disks 9 of the other series being ofanother color, as red. 6o The grooves or ways 3 and 4 are eachinterrupted or blocked by transverse partitions, the partition I0extending from the central boss 2 to the inner flange 5 and thepartition 'll extending from the inner flange 5 to the 65 outer iiange6. The partitions 10 and 1l are arranged at such a distance from thepassage or gateway 7 that one disk or man only can lie in each of thegrooves 3 and 4 between the partitions and said passage or gateway 7oand leave the latter unobstructed, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1,so that the remaining disks or men may be freely transferredtherethrough from one groove or Way to the other.

The series of disks or men being arranged in the manner shown in thedrawings, the problem is to transpose the disks or men, so that the redmen shall occupy the position of the blue men, and vice versa. This isac- 8o complished by shifting the disks or men back and forth in thegrooves or ways and from one groove to the other until the positions ofall the pieces have been reversed.

I have shown the disks as consisting of two series of three disks each;but it will be evident that more than two series may be employed andthat the number of disks in each series may be varied. It will also bemanifest that the disk of one series may be dis- 9o tinguished fromthose of another series otherwise than by different colors.

Having described my invention, what I claim isl. As an improved articleof manufacture, the puzzle herein described and shown, consisting of aboard constructed with inner and outer grooves concentric with oneanother and the inner groove having a portion of its Wall provided withan opening or gateway by 10o which it is placed in communication withthe outer groove, a boss located at the center of the inner groove,partitions arranged, respectively, in said grooves at one side of thesaid opening or gateway, and disks or men constructed to shift back andforth in the grooves and to move from one groove to the other throughthe opening or gateway, the partitions being located at such distancefrom the said opening or gateway as to permit one disk or man only tolie in each groove between the partition thereof and the opening orgateway, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In apuzzle, the combination withaboard provided with two concentricgrooves or ways communicating with one another by a passage or gateway,a partition arranged transversely in each of said grooves or ways on oneside of said passage or gateway, and disks or men adapted to be shiftedback and forth in said grooves or way and from one groove or way to theother, the transverse partitions being located at such distance from thesaid passage or gateway as to permit one disk or man only to lie in eachgroove between the partition thereof and the passage or gateway,substantially as described.

3. In a puzzle,the combination with a board provided with two concentricgrooves or ways communicating with one another by a passage or gateway,a partition arranged transversely in each of said grooves or ways on oneside of the passage or gateway, and a plurality of series of disks ormen adapted to be shifted back and forth in said grooves or ways andfrom one groove or way to the other, the disk or men of one series beingdistinguished from the disks or men of another series, and thepartitions being located at such distance from the said opening orgateway as to permit one disk or man only to lie in each groove betweenthe partition thereof and the opening or gateway, substantially asdescribed.

4. In apuzzle, the combination with a board provided with two concentricgrooves or ways communicating with one another by a passage or gateway,a partition arranged transversely in each of said grooves or ways on oneside of the passage or gateway, and two series of disks or men arrangedin said grooves or' ways and adapted to be shifted back and forththerein and from one groove or way to another, the size of the passageor gateway being such as to permit of the passage therethrough of butone disk or man at a time, and the said partitions being arranged atsuch points that one disk or man only may lie in each of the groovesbetween the partitions and said passage or gateway and leave the latterunobstructed for the passage therethrough of the remaining disks 0r men,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

FRED HAMILTON DONALDSON. Titnessesz CHARLES NELSON WILLIAMS, EDWARDHoPsoN OWEN.

